If anything is life-changing, being the descendant of a slave is. Ntozake Shange More Quotes by Ntozake Shange More Quotes From Ntozake Shange I hit my head against the wall because I don't want to know all the terrible things that I know about. I don't want to feel all these wretched things, but they're in me already. If I don't get rid of them, I'm not ever going to feel anything else. Ntozake Shange wallterriblewant in our ordinaryness we are most bizarre. Ntozake Shange ordinarinessbizarre i usedta live in the world really be in the world free & sweet talkin good mornin & thank-you & nice day uh huh i cant now i cant be nice to nobody nice is such a rip-off regular beauty & a smile in the street is just a set-up Ntozake Shange ripnicesweet nice is such a rip-off. Ntozake Shange nicenessripnice Novels allow me to create a whole world. Ntozake Shange novelwholeworld I've never thought of leaving the South, never. Ntozake Shange southleaving There was quite a ruckus about the seven ladies in their simple colored dresses. I was truly dumbfounded that I was, right then and there, deemed the biggest threat to black men since cotton pickin', and not all women were in my corner, either. Ntozake Shange womenblacksimplemen I think art is a healing force, and if we give in to the joy that can be found in art, then we are able to sustain ourselves in spite of ourselves. Ntozake Shange thinkhealingjoyart My characters don't talk necessarily in a normal American way of talking. They talk a little different. Ntozake Shange americantalktalkingway Sisterhood is important because we are all we have to stand on. We have to stand near and by each other, pray for one another, and share the joys and the difficulties that women face in the world today. If we don't talk about it among ourselves, then we are made silent by the patriarchy, and that serves us no purpose. Ntozake Shange facewomentodayworld Multiculturalism is a white people joke. Ntozake Shange jokemulticulturalismwhitepeople Art gives us the opportunity to have clarity as well as hope that we might be able to survive a situation, or hope that we can find a way out of it without too much more injury to ourselves. Ntozake Shange situationhopeopportunityart When I die, I will not be guilty of having left a generation of girls behind thinking that anyone can tend to their emotional health other than themselves. Ntozake Shange generationdiehealththinking There was nothing to aspire to, no one to honor. Sojourner Truth wasn't a big enough role model for me. I couldn't go around abolishing slavery. Ntozake Shange meslaverytruthhonor Multiculturalism isn't about culture, it's about power. Ntozake Shange aboutmulticulturalismpowerculture White people use their literature to maintain culture. That's why you find references to Milton and Spencer and Shakespeare and Dostoyevsky in contemporary novels. Ntozake Shange youwhiteculturepeople I remember that my mother used to take me to see ballets, especially if there were black people in them. Ntozake Shange meblackmotherpeople I was chastised for writing several obituaries for Malcolm X, exploring different aspects of his writing. One teacher in particular told me, didn't I think I was beating a dead horse? and dismissively threw my paper on my desk. Ntozake Shange thinkmehorseteacher Before I went to college, I went to the S.N.C.C. office three times a week to offer my services and catch up on my 'Liberator' magazine. The other two days, I went to the Lycee Francais to keep my French crisp. I felt comfortable in the diversity of my worlds. Ntozake Shange diversitythreeofficecollege I was constantly being sought after for money. And the vitriol that came my way from many who felt threatened by controversial aspects of 'for colored girls' was often frightening. Ntozake Shange whobeingmoneyway
